


The Search

by TVgirll1971



Category: Whiskey Cavalier (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22219708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVgirll1971/pseuds/TVgirll1971
Summary: A nine year old boy is discovered following a shootout at a drug buy in New York City. When the boy goes missing from the FBI building that night, the team, led by a very stressed out Will, is determined to find him.
Kudos: 1





	The Search

**Author's Note:**

> This story is heavily based on the NCIS episode "In the Wind." (2020). Much of the dialogue was taken from the episode and the premise was reworked a bit to fit my story. I know it's not the type of thing we'd usually see on Whiskey Cavalier. However, it's not what you normally see on NCIS either. Every once in a while TV writers will write something different for a change of pace, so I could've seen them doing something like this on the show.

The team’s latest mission was taking down a drug trafficking ring working out of New York that was responsible for the distribution of over half the narcotics sold in the East coast. A notable reason for their success was that they had a member of the FRI drug task force, Wynona Bishop, in their pocket. An informant revealed that Bishop was set to meet with the drug ring that night. Though their plan was to bring Bishop in alive so she could turn on the head of the drug cartel, Will was forced to kill her in the ensuing firefight.

“Guys, I’m picking up a heat signature in next room. There’s definitely someone in there.” Jai reported from the van. Guns drawn, Will and Frankie walked towards the door, opened it and came face to face with a scared nine year old boy.

“Hey, buddy. Relax. No one’s going to hurt you. What’s your name?” Will asked. When the boy didn’t answer, he squatted down and continued. “I’m Will. I’m with the FBI. This is my partner, Frankie. Where’d you come from?”

“My mom brought me.” The boy replied. “She’s FBI too.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Will and Frankie took the boy, Brendon, to FBI headquarters and had him stay in the conference room while they, and Ray, had an emergency meeting with the head of the FBI Drug Force to discuss what happened. When the meeting adjourned, Will stayed behind with Frankie and Ray and vented angrily. 

“Unbelievable. Who the hell brings their son to a drug deal?”

“I don’t know.” Ray replied. “She’s a single mom. Maybe she couldn’t get a sitter. I bring my niece to work sometimes. She’s here now. I’m watching her for the week while my….” he began to elaborate.

Frankie interrupted. “Yes, she’s in your office. You don’t take her to drug buys, do you?”

Ray grimaced and shook his head. “No, not really.”

“Great.” Will said, sarcastically. “Any word on Brendon’s father?”

“No father on record.” Ray replied. “He does have grandparents in Pittsburgh. They’ve been notified.” 

At that point, Susan arrived. “Guys, someone from Children’s Services is on route to pick up Brendon for the night.”

Will sighed. “Well, we better let him know.” The group walked towards the other conference room, opened the door, and was shocked to find it empty! 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

While Ray contacted NYPD to report a missing kid and Frankie went to the Dead Drop to coordinate things with Jai and Standish, Will and Susan drove around the area of the Federal building searching for Brendon.

“He couldn’t have gotten far on foot. We’ll find him.” Susan said in the car with Will.

“You keep saying that.” Will muttered.

“It bears repeating.”

“This is all my fault.” Will declared. “I should’ve waited for you instead of…”

“You didn’t have a choice.” Susan interrupted. “He heard the gunfire. He was asking about his mom. You couldn’t lie. That would’ve made things worse. You did nothing wrong.”

“Yeah, well, the kid sneaking out of the building says differently I should’ve been with him. I should’ve NEVER him alone.”

“Again, you didn’t have a choice. Agent Peterson wanted to meet with you and Frankie.” Susan then changed the subject, trying to reassure Will. “We’ll find him. We just have to know what his mindset was. How did he react when you told him about his mom?”

“How do you think? His mom just died.”

“Did he cry?” Susan asked.

“Yes, he cried.”

“Okay and then what? Was he angry? Was he in denial? After he cried, what happened?”

“He was scared. He asked why bad things always happen to him and asked if he had to go live with his dad. He said his mom told him he was crazy.”

“What happened then?”

Frankie and I were called in with a meeting with Agent Peterson and Ray. So we told him to stay put. Now he’s gone.” 

“Aw, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” Susan said, stroking Will’s head. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

“Anything?” Will asked the second he and Susan walked into the Dead Drop.

“Nope.” Standish reported. “I’ve been scanning CCTV footage in the area and there’s no trace.” 

“How the hell does a kid on foot disappear without anyone seeing him?” Will bellowed.

“What about his cell phone?” Frankie asked.

“I pinged it to a location near the FBI building. Police reported that they found the phone but not the kid.” Standish reported.

“He must have tossed it. He definitely doesn’t want to be found.” Susan said. 

Jai spoke up. “Amber alerts have been updated. Police have check points all over the area. There’s no way this kid won’t be found.” 

“Unless he’s in lying in a ditch somewhere.” Will said, frustrated.

“Let’s not jump to worst case scenarios right now.” Susan said.

“We have a 9 year old boy loose in New York City at night, Susan. It doesn’t get worse than that!” Will snapped. Turning to Standish, he asked. “Do we know who his father is? He said his mom called him crazy.”

Standish shook his head and then asked. “Are we sure she’s even telling the truth? She wasn’t exactly Special Agent Honesty so maybe she lied to him. All I know is there is no father named on Brendon’s birth certificate.”

“Which means she was trying to keep him from Brendon.” Frankie said. 

“Maybe.” Standish replied. “Or maybe she was a Slutty Betty and didn’t know who the father was.”

“Damn it!!” Will yelled as he knocked a chair over. “There has to be a clue! Look at her history! Do something! Just find out who the damn father is!”

“Wow. This is edgy Will all over again. Isn’t it?” Frankie asked Susan.

“I don’t know.” Susan remarked. “All I know is if something happens to that kid, it’s going to get worse.”

Turning to Will, Susan said. “There is something we haven’t considered. The bar across from the warehouse---that’s where the initial tip came from. Correct? That’s where the FBI was tipped off from.”

“Yeah. So?” Will asked.

“So, this” paused to look at a name on the screen, “Hector Rivera obviously knows the players involved. He owns a bar for goodness sake. There is no chance that Bishop or the others are not frequent customers there. I’m sure he knows more than just meet times.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Will said, his jaw clenched.

“No, you won’t.” Susan said, holding her arm out. “The last thing we need is edgy Will again. Frankie can go.”

“Okay.” Will grumbled. “But take Ray.”

“Ray?” Frankie asked.

“Yes. Tell him we need Cutter.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Cutter was one of Ray’s aliases. A biker, Cutter was as rough and gnarly as they came. Well, that’s what Will said. Frankie had her doubts. That’s when Ray drove up in a government-issue Harley, all decked out in leather. He certainly looked the part. Then he opened his mouth.

“Hey. Hopefully this won’t take long. My mom said she can only watch Sadie for a couple hours tonight. Her back’s acting up.”

“Oh, God.” Frankie muttered, rolling her eyes. 

Ray took three deep breathes and then walked in the bar. There, Ray Prince totally disappeared. His face was mean and his walk was even a little different. It was heavier, almost like a cowboy walk. 

‘Are you Hector Rivera?” Frankie asked walking up to the bar.

“Maybe. Depends on what you want.” said the large man as he sauntered over to Frankie and towered over her.

Suddenly, Ray grabbed Hector, smashed his head against the bar two times, and, holding a knife to his chin, said menacingly. “Show some respect, asshole, or I’ll cut your face off.”

“Shit! He’s GOOD.” Frankie thought, blinking in surprise.

Hector held his hands up in surrender and said “Yes. Yes. I’m Hector. What do you want?”

“The FBI agent you ratted on, Bishop. Her son’s missing. Where is he?” Frankie asked.

“I don’t know. Ask his mother.” 

“She’s dead, asshole.” Ray said and then pushed the knife into Hector’s neck. “Want to join her?”

“We think the kid is running from his father. Any idea who that is?” asked Frankie

“No.” Hector said very quickly.

“That’s convincing.” Ray said snidely. “Let’s try it again.” as he grabbed Hector by the throat and squeezed hard.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. Okay, I know a rumor. Get him off me.”

“Okay, Cutter, ease up.” Frankie said. “What do you know?”

“I think it might be Diego Del Fuentes.”

“The head of the Columbian drug cartel?” Frankie asked.

“Yes. People say that’s why she helps them but I don’t know if it’s true.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Frankie said to Ray.

“It’s your lucky day, asshole. You get to stay alive.” Ray said snidely as he let go of Hector’s neck and patted him on the cheek. 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

The next morning, Frankie paced furiously in Ray’s office. “I don’t get it. How the hell does a nine year old kid just leave the federal building?”

“It was nighttime. Most of the building was empty anyway.”

“Uncle Ray?” came a soft voice from the other room.

“Sadie, I’m in a meeting right now. Just go back in and play.”

“Are you talking about the kid from last night? He said he needed help.”

“Wait? You saw him?” Frankie asked the ten year girl.

Frightened, Sadie looked at her uncle. Bending down, Ray put a hand on Sadie’s shoulder, “It’s okay. You’re not in trouble. We just really need to find this kid. He’s out there, all by himself.” Suddenly, he realized something. Standing up, he said. “Wait, how’d you see him? You were supposed to stay in here.”

“I know, but sometimes when you’re gone a while, I go to the candy machines. That’s where I saw him, hiding. He said he had to get out of here because bad guys were after him. I told him bad guys can’t get in here but he was scared. I told him it was too scary to go out at night so I had him in the back room with me.”

“He was in here the whole night?” Frankie blurted out, glaring at Ray. At that point, Sadie whimpered and hugged Ray. Realizing she’d scared the girl, Frankie’s heart sank and she quickly bent down and said in a soft voice. “Honey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled like that.” She brushed Sadie’s hair away from her face. “You were the one who threw out his phone, weren’t you?” When Sadie nodded, Frankie assured the girl. “This wasn’t your fault. You thought he was in trouble. You were trying to help. Plus, telling him not to go out night—that was a very smart thing. Now, did he tell you anything about where he’d go? Anything at all?”

Sadie nodded. “I told him to call his dad but he said his dad was one of the bad guys. He said his grandma and grandpap lived in Pittsburgh. He didn’t have any money so this morning I gave him one of Uncle Ray’s credit cards.” 

“You gave him my what?” Ray asked. “Wait. Where was I when you snuck him out?”

“Bathroom.” Sadie answered meekly. 

Frankie smiled. “Your credit card. That means we might be able to track him.”

Sadie looked down. “I’m sorry, Uncle Ray.”

“It’s okay.” Ray assured her, rubbing her back “You did good.”

“Real good. Thank you, Sadie.” Frankie said, smiling. She then stood up and got out her phone. “You. Buy her some ice cream later. I’m going to call Standish to see if he can find out anything.” 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

It didn’t take long for Standish to learn that Ray’s credit card was indeed used at a bus station near the FBI building to purchase tickets to Pittsburgh. 

Will and Frankie went to the bus station where the woman at the counter told them that the boy in the photograph did buy tickets to Pittsburgh for him and his father.

“Wait. He and his father? He was actually with his father?” Will asked, worriedly.

“Well, I guess. He said the man on the bench was his father.”

“And you just took his word for it?” Frankie asked, incredulously. 

Flustered, the woman explained. “Well, he seemed innocent enough. First, he said he wanted a ticket to Pittsburgh but I told him I couldn’t sell tickets to unaccompanied minors and he said he made a mistake that he was buying tickets for him and his dad. It gets hectic around here first thing in the morning.”

“Where is the bus scheduled to stop next?” Will asked, annoyed.

“Baltimore.” She answered.

“Okay, call Baltimore Port Authority and tell them to hold the bus. They have a runaway on board.” Will told the woman as he and Frankie rushed out.

On the drive to Baltimore, Frankie tried talking to Will. “It’s going to be okay, Will. We’ll find Brendon. You’ll see.” Getting no answer, Frankie pressed on. “Come on, Will. Talk to me.”

“You don’t like to talk.” Will said matter-of-factly.

“No. But you do. Come on. This wasn’t your fault. Bishop was the one who decided to get in with cartel. This is all on her.”

“Really? I’m the one who shot her. Remember?”

“Yes. Because you had no choice. Let’s not act like she was this great mother. She was a selfish woman who put her need to for a payday above the safety of her own child.”

“I’m surprised you’re not more concerned about this. We have a kid all alone out there. I thought you had a soft spot for kids.”

“You don’t think I’m freaked out?” Frankie exclaimed. “Believe me; I’m worried sick but freaking out isn’t going to get him back.”

The pair reached the bus terminal. Unfortunately, Brendon wasn’t there. A passenger reported that the boy got off to get a soda and wound up getting into a van with a man assumed to be his father.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

“Okay, I hacked into the bus station’s surveillance system.” Standish reported on comms. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a visual on whoever took Brendon. He got into a black van but that’s all I tell. “

“What about a license plate?” Will asked, him and Frankie still in Baltimore. 

“I can try but the resolution on this image is pretty bad. The system was obviously installed when disco was King.” 

“Just get it done, okay Standish!” Will snapped.

“Hey. Can everyone mute comms so I can talk to Will alone for a minute?” Susan asked. “Will, sweetie, how are you doing?” Susan asked Will afterwards. 

“Will people stop asking me that?” Will blurted out, frustrated.

“No.”

“What do you mean? No!”

“No! We’re worried about you.” 

“People are worried about me? No one is allowed to worry about me until we find that kid! Alright!”

“I get you’re upset but you need to stop snapping at people. We’re all trying to help you and you’re not letting us. You need to let us help you. Now breathe.”

“I am breathing. Otherwise I’d be dead.” Will said, with a touch of sarcasm.

“You know what I mean, Breathe.” 

Will closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

“Yes!” Standish yelled from the back of the Dead Drop. “Will, Frankie,” he told them over comms, “Good news. I was able to clean up the image. Facial recognition tagged the guy who took Brendon as an FBI agent--Henry Peterson.”

“What?” Frankie exclaimed. “The agent met with last night??” 

Will rubbed his temples. “There wasn’t just one person on the task force working with the cartel. There were two!”

“Peterson was Bishop’s boss.” Susan pointed out. “He may have blackmailed her into helping the cartel when he found out about her and Del Fuentes.”

“He may have even set it up. Trap the agent in a honeypot.” Frankie suggested.

“Getting pregnant made it worse. Peterson could keep her on a shorter lease by threatening to tell Del Fuentes about her son.” Will guessed. 

“Wait.” Standish began, “So, Bishop wasn’t the villain here, she was…”

“The victim,” Frankie answered for him. 

“That doesn’t explain how the hell Peterson knew where Brendon was.” a frustrated Will pointed out.

“Actually, I may be able to answer that.” Jai suddenly spoke up. “You remember last night when I said I thought I saw a signal coming from somewhere in the warehouse? Well, I got to thinking. What if it was Brendon? Agent Bishop instilled a fear of his father in him. It’d make sense for her to want to be able to track him at all times.”

“So Standish can hack into her phone and track Brendon?” Susan asked, smiling.

Jai grimaced. “Normally, yes. However, I suspect that Peterson had the same thought and that’s how he found the kid. He either had one of his men hack into Bishop’s phone or he stole it from her personal effects at the morgue”

Frankie spoke up. “Brendon was in Ray’s office all night. Peterson could’ve gotten him any time then.”

“No,“ Will replied as he began making a phone call. “He would’ve been recognized leaving the building with Brendon. He was probably hoping to grab him outside when Child Services came but…” 

“Sadie hid him before he got the chance.” Frankie responded.

A few minutes later, Will reported that Agent Bishop’s cell phone was indeed missing from the evidence room.

“Son of a bitch.” Frankie muttered. “Okay, now what? We have no idea where Peterson is or what he even wants with Brendon. The kid’s no use to him with his mother dead.” 

“That might not be true.” Susan realized. “Brendon is still Del Fuentes’ son. What if Peterson plans to collect some kind of pay day by bringing his son to him?”

“Standish,” Will began.

“Already on it.” Standish replied. “Checking BWI for flights to Columbia. Yes! A man bought a ticket for himself and his nine year old son a little while ago.”

“Susan, call Ray. Tell him to alert BWI that we have a kidnapping situation. Tell them to lock the airport down and ground all flights.” Will said as he and Frankie rushed to the airport. There they found Peterson arguing at the gate to be allowed to leave.

“Peterson! Freeze!” Will yelled, his gun out. “Step away from the boy.” 

Peterson looked as if he was about to draw his own weapon but thought better of it when he noticed that Frankie’s gun was pulled on him too.

“Brendon. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Will said when security escorted Peterson to a holding area until someone else from the FBI could arrive.

Unfortunately, Brendon still looked frightened, not knowing if he can trust these two or not. Then Frankie gave him a signal.

“It’s alright, Brendon.” She said with a smile. “Sadie sent us.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

“Good news, team.” Ray announced over speaker phone while the others were at the Drop Dead. “Brendon’s grandparents arrived to take him home. Not only that, but a tech team found the tracker on Brendon. It was in a necklace his mom gave him. It’s been dismantled so there is no danger of him being tracked.”

“And Peterson?” Will asked.

“Behind bars. I think he’s hoping for some kind of plea deal but the kidnapping kind of put a damper on that.”

“Good.” Will said. “Oh, and Ray, take the day off tomorrow and take your niece to the zoo. She earned it.”

Ray laughed. “You bet.”

After Ray hung up, Will turned to the rest of the team. “Listen, guys. I’m really sorry about my behavior today. It was…” 

“Don’t give it a second thought,” Susan interrupted, rubbing his arm. “We understand.” 

“That’s true.” Frankie stated. “Besides as edgy Will goes, this one was pretty tame. Oh, and speaking of edgy, next time I need a bad cop. I’m asking Ray. He’s a lot better at than you are.” She said as she walked away laughing.

“Hey!” Will objected as he followed Frankie. “I can do bad cop just as good as Ray.”

“Sure you can, Whiskey.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I heard about Josh Hopkins' role in Crown Vic, I envisioned Ray being a good "bad cop" and this gave me the opportunity to show that. However, I wrote this before I actually saw the movie so Cutter is nothing like Josh's character in Crown Vic.
> 
> I don't do a lot of long distance travel via bus, so the thing about having multiple stops came from the NCIS episode. I did a little research, and Baltimore is the next stop on route from NYC to Pittsburgh.


End file.
